Reducing waste with reusable cable ties

Traditionally non-recyclable and made from nylon, cable ties are used across the country in many sectors –usually making their way to landfill when no longer needed. Now, a waste-free solution has been introduced

In collaboration with Auckland Council, Naylor Love carried out a waste trial at its construction site on Auckland University of Technology (AUT) North Campus. The trial involved separation of resources on-site and making changes to how Naylor Love used and disposed of its leftover building products and materials.

At the end of the trial period, over 90 percent of Naylor Love’s construction waste had been diverted away from landfill – allowing the company to make a saving of 40 percent on their usual landfill costs.

The sheer amount of cable ties thrown away each day by each trade’s personnel was an eye-opener during the study.

“Everybody uses them for all sorts of applications,” says Annie Day, group environmental manager at Naylor Love. “Once we knew the extent of the issue, with 13.5kg of cable ties collected during the foundation build stage, I went online to search for an alternative and came across reusable cable ties. I bought a pack being sold on Trade Me for an outrageous cost and showed them to our team. We shared a ‘wow’ moment – then the hard work started.”

Understanding the issue and finding a solution

One of the first steps Naylor Love took was creating an accessible onsite sorting area where waste materials could be separated – then providing different bins for different materials, with signage consistent with WasteMINZ guidelines so people would understand which bins to use.

After auditing the building products and materials they were using, Naylor Love saw that there were multiple actions they could take to divert resources away from landfill. They found that some products and materials could be easily sorted on site, while others could not. They also saw an opportunity to work much more closely with suppliers to reduce, reuse and recycle their products and materials to divert them from landfill.

Swapping single-use cable ties with a reusable product had the potential to divert an entire category of non-recyclable waste away from landfill – but would people be willing to use reusable cable ties?

“First, we had to get the reusable cable ties retailed in New Zealand,” says Annie. “This was a long process – I started talking to one prominent retailer in January 2022, and it took them a long time to ethically source them.”

Approvals were also needed from the project design teams, and challenges around the definition of a cable tie were also noted.

“I’m talking to Masterspec to see if they can write a specification for cable ties. There is nothing in the architecture and services specs that say what kind of cable tie to use. If we have clarity on this, it makes the decision easier to choose reusable ones.”

And Annie says progress is being made: “I’m happy to report that since we have been promoting the use of reusable cable ties, other companies have started to use them – including scaffolding, electrical and carpentry.”

A step forward

There are now retailers either stocking or looking to stock the reusable cable ties, and Annie’s team have found a recycling company that will take plastic 6.6 – the nylon plastic used for cable ties.

“They are in development mode at present, trialing the 13.5kg bag of cable ties we collected from our AUT site. It could be a good solution for non-reusable cable ties we remove during refurbishments and demolitions.”

Annie’s advice for other companies looking to use reusable cable ties?

“Make the switch now. Use them for all the temporary works, do them up – unfasten them – do them up again. Save on buying new cable ties, save on waste to landfill. Be a positive change, role model for your company from the top down or bottom up, and influence in between.

“Take a look at what you do every day and question whether there is a better way to look after the materials, complete the tasks or use a different approach altogether.

“Sometimes it’s the little things that have a big impact –in this case, a small, incidental piece of single-use plastic that costs next to nothing.”

Where can you purchase reusable cable ties?

• GFC Fasteners

• Powerpac

• Discount Office

• Marine Deals

• StarTech

• Mega Mitre 10 will soon be a stockist.